Vodka van man avoids a road ban

A van driver who was found slumped over the wheel of his car after drinking two bottles of vodka has avoided a road ban.

Karolcaiera Lagieraa, 32, of Mayfield Street, Kirkby was spotted by members of the public with the lights on and engine running on his Ford Fiesta.

The vehicle was also on the carriageway of King Street in Mansfield.

When the police turned up, they woke Lagieraa and said that he smelled strongly of alcohol and arrested him.

He was breathalysed at the police station and the lower of his two readings came out at 48 mcgs of alcohol in 100mls of breath. Then legal limit is 35 mcgs.

Appearing before Mansfield Magistrates’ Court and defending himself, he told the magistrates that he had drunk two bottles of vodka the night before.

He said: “I have been stupid, I want to say sorry.”

He said that he worked as a warehouse worker and van driver and feared he would lose his job if he received a ban.

Under the law, had he been driving while under the influence, he would have received an automatic ban, but because he had been asleep at the wheel, he received the lesser charge of being in charge of a vehicle while unfit through drink, which he admitted.

The magistrate told him: “You drive as a profession, therefore you have to take so much more care.

“We are not going to ban you, and your remorse has impressed the bench.”

He was handed 10 penalty points, fined £160, made to pay £85 costs, a £20 surcharge and a £150 criminal courts charge.